A true leader is a fervent follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. We do not believe that anyone who is truly submitted to the Lord Jesus can tyrannize or "lord it over" God’s people. 2 Corinthians 1:24 says that, in contrast to doing that, a true leader is to be a "helper of your joy." That means he is to teach the true Word of God and genuinely love God’s people, leading them to a dependence upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Properly translated as it is set forth in the What Is Christian Leadership?  teaching, Hebrews 13:7 is a bottom-line verse to characterize a true leader.

 Why would a Christian want to step out and "go first" in faith to lead God’s people? We suggest that thankfulness  to God and His Son would be one major motivation. We would also submit the motive of glorifying the one true God and the one Lord Jesus Christ. What about compassion for people who are as sheep without a shepherd? What about the fact that there seems to be a lack of genuine Christian leaders today, and a crying need for someone to do it right, "for the people?" And what about "when the chief shepherd shall appear" and the guarantee that those who faithfully serve in leading God’s people will receive "a crown of glory that fades not away?"

As a bit of a side note here, and since one of the hallmarks of a true leader is that he is apt to teach the Word of God rightly divided, we would like to ask you if you have ever taught the Word to any number of people? Please consider the indescribable privilege God has given each of us to teach His Word to other human units. Certainly this is one of the most stimulating and growth-producing forms of service available. Have you ever gotten together with a group of believers and done, say, a ten-minute teaching of the Word just to see what it’s like? If not, why not do it? You might discover that you enjoy teaching the Word. In fact, you might get addicted  to it. Another question: Who is going to teach the people around you what you know if you don’t?

The wonderful network of fellowships we envision will never come to pass without many, many local leaders rising up in many, many ways and functions. We strongly believe that home fellowships are the nucleus for the genuine growth of the Church. The home fellowship is where people are nourished and strengthened, and where they can exercise their individual giftings in the Body of Christ. Home fellowships require capable and qualified leaders manifesting the heart of Christ. One of our goals at the November Leadership Conference is to facilitate this. We want to identify those in contact with us who desire to serve God’s people. Then we want to motivate and educate them in how to do so, supporting them as specifically and effectively as we can. Right now we by no means have all the answers as to how to do these things, but we are willing to keep moving one step at a time in this direction. We firmly believe that the November Leadership Conference is a vital step on this path. Please pray for it, and please seek the Lord as to whether or not He would have you be a part of this event. If you are part of a local fellowship, but do not feel that you should attend the conference, please consider financially helping someone in your area who you feel has shown leadership ability to come and participate in the weekend.

In closing, we once again want you to know that we greatly desire your feedback and input on anything we are doing. If you have any thoughts you feel would help us, please speak up. Your speaking up is no guarantee that we will agree with you, but your not speaking up is a guarantee that we will never have the chance to do so. We love you very dearly and we long to be more like Christ to serve you more effectively. Thank you for your love, your prayers and whatever financial support you can give from your heart in response to our service to you.

Hello, this is John Schoenheit.  Last month Michael Branch and I had the privilege of traveling to Haiti and teaching God’s Word to about 50 ministers in a four-day seminar that was a wonderful victory for the Lord Jesus Christ. After the Apostle Paul traveled in what today is Turkey, he wrote to the Corinthians: "We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in Asia." Paul informed the believers in Corinth to encourage them in the work of the Lord, and to let them know that he felt that their prayers had helped keep him safe. So too, Michael and I hope this letter inspires you in the work you do for the Lord, and we really feel that your prayers helped us stay safe.

Michael and I met in Miami on September 12^th and made the two-hour flight to Haiti. We had been praying hard about the seminar because we had not heard from Lesly Bertrand, our contact there. Communication in Haiti is extremely difficult. There are very few private phones, and the public phones are grouped in small buildings where long lines form while people wait to use them. Even at that, the majority of the time that Michael and I actually got to a phone, the long distance service to the United States did not work.

Lesly has no phone, and it is very difficult for him to contact us. We finally got a fax from him that he had received our flight information and would meet us at the airport. He was there at the airport and took us to Wall’s Guest House, a place in Haiti where a lot of missionaries spend the night. When Lesly left us, he said that he and his assistant, Weston Joseph, would be back the next day at 8:00 a.m. for the four-hour drive to Cayes, which is the third largest city in Haiti and on the south side of the southern peninsula of the country.

Michael and I were ready at 8:00 a.m., but Lesly did not come. He was not there at 9, nor 10, nor 11, nor noon. Finally at 12:30 p.m. Lesly arrived. As I said earlier, one of the problems in Haiti is communication. As the hours passed, all Michael and I could do was relax and pray. There was no way to find out what was happening. Having a clear understanding of that fact helps greatly in understanding the relaxed demeanor of the Haitian people. Communication and transportation are unreliable and often non-existent, so when someone you love is out of sight, the only option people have is to relax and have faith that they are ok. Breakdowns are common, and we passed dozens of broken down vehicles of every type as we drove.

When Lesly arrived at 12:30 p.m., we found out why he was late. He had rented a Jeep, but it did not work so he got another. In the short distance from the leasing agency to the Wall’s Guest House the second jeep had two flat tires and brake failure. We climbed in and started out for Cayes, which took six hours because the road had lots of broken pavement, potholes, and a few areas where a lane had simply washed away down the mountain or into a creek. When we got to the seminar, we learned that one bus carrying four ministers had rolled down an embankment. By God’s mercy all of them survived basically intact and still came on to the seminar.

Lesly drove Michael and me to La Meridian Hotel in the city of Cayes. It was a nice hotel. The beds were firm and the sheets were clean. Of course the only water was cold, but the water pressure was good and Michael and I "refreshed" with a cold shower every morning. During my first stay in Haiti last year I was tormented by mosquitoes and bugs all night, so this trip I brought a can of insect fogger. We fogged the room before supper each night and when we came back the beds and floor were covered with dead bugs. We just dusted the sheets off and went to sleep. I was only mosquito-bitten once all week. I was so thankful for that fogger!

Monday morning we started the seminar at 9:00 a.m. The church where the seminar was held was about 60´x30´, had concrete walls with large openings with iron grating instead of windows, a cement tile floor and a corrugated steel roof. The schedule was to be 9 a.m.-noon, 3-5 p.m. and 7-9 p.m., but we soon modified that. Of course there was no bathroom, so we blended into the local culture and used trees and bushes like the rest of the group.

We had problems with rain all week. It rained very hard all Sunday night, so the participants did not sleep well. They were sleeping on mats on the floor of the church, and the rain had blown in and kept them up, which made them very tired by the end of the day on Monday. We decided to change the sessions to 9:00 a.m.-noon and 3-7 p.m., and that worked out very well. It rained every day and every night but one, and the ministers were quite tired, but stayed alert and interested when Michael and I taught. These are wonderful men and women (there were two women) who really love God and who know what it is to sacrifice for Him.

  It got dark at 6:00 p.m. every night and the church had no electricity, but Lesly had brought two gas lanterns, which provided enough light to see by. Electricity is another of the great uncertainties in Haiti. Even the large cities do not have reliable service and the power is out several times a day, sometimes for long periods. Hotels that advertise electricity have their own generators, but mostly people just do without. Driving back to the hotel through the city of Cayes at night we could see that only a few places had electricity. Most simply used candles or oil or alcohol lamps. The lack of electricity affected Michael and me the most when the hotel fans would not work. The church had huge grated openings and there was usually some sort of breeze, but the temperature dropped only into the 80’s at night and the air was very muggy, so when the fans in the hotel room quit working it became quite uncomfortable for us.

Although Michael and I were not enjoying the same standard of living we do here in the United States, we were very thankful to have the opportunity to teach those wonderful saints who graciously bore much more hardship than we did. They generally ate only two meals a day and slept on straw mats on the concrete or on the church benches. Since there was only one night it did not rain, they got wet almost every night. In spite of not sleeping well, they got up for a praise and worship service at 6:00 a.m. every day. They traveled up to ten-hours on crowded buses and open trucks to hear us teach, and were very touched by the Word that we shared. A few of them cried at the end of the last session.

I opened the seminar with 2 Timothy 3:16, about all Scripture being God-breathed, and taught the first session about reasons we believe the Bible is indeed God’s Word. Since the people speak French and Creole, we taught through a translator, and sometimes, when the concept was very difficult, what we taught was translated into each language. We established the need to read Scripture carefully in its context by teaching about Noah’s ark and the giving of the Ten Commandments. Throughout the seminar we constantly emphasized the need for the ministers to teach their congregations the Word of God by reading it in context. Most ministers read a verse or two and then preach for an hour or even two hours. We emphasized that the truth sets people free and that the minister’s job is to teach the truth. We got feedback from a number of the ministers who said that really made an impression on them. We covered a large number of subjects, including speaking in tongues and the other manifestations in great detail and answered a lot of questions about tongues. Most of the ministers spoke in tongues, and we led some who didn’t into doing so, which caused great excitement in the group. A couple ministers were jumping around with their hands in the air speaking in their new language.

We spent a lot of time teaching the Hope. We were quite surprised to find that many of them already knew that their eternal home would be earth, not the air, but they were very blessed as we methodically covered the subject. When we taught that salvation was permanent in our administration, they agreed (many already believed that) but wanted to know what would keep people from sinning. What we taught on the Hope and rewards really helped with that, and we went to Romans 6 about being a slave to sin and to Romans 12 about being thankful to God.

We spent a long time, three full hours, teaching truths about the dead being truly dead and not alive in any form until the coming of Christ. Again, because Lesly and Weston had laid a great foundation for us with their teaching, a lot of the ministers already believed that. Still, there were lots of questions. Voodoo is a recognized religion in Haiti, and there is a lot of confusion about what happens when a person dies. Ancestor worship in various forms is very prevalent, with "visits" from dead people being commonly reported. The ministers also asked questions about "zombies." Again, God was gracious to help us help them. We met a medical missionary from the USA who has spent a week every month in Haiti for the last two years. He has studied the subject of zombies intensively and gave us his best understanding of the subject.

The voodoo priest or witch doctor controls the people with fear, so the first thing he or she does is to let it be known that a certain person will be cursed soon. Then, through poisons or evil spirit power, the witch doctor puts the person in a coma. Since the populace cannot distinguish a coma from death, the person is buried. In a day or two the witch doctor digs up the body, which now has lost much of its brain function due to oxygen starvation or from the poison. At this point the person is a "vegetable," with only lower brain function. Demons then take over the body at the command of the voodoo priest, and the "person" becomes a servant, tilling the garden, going to the market, etc. Many of the Haitian ministers attested to having seen such "people."

Michael and I learned some things about voodoo during our stay. Since it has become a recognized religion, there are voodoo temples along the road, and it can be dangerous to say anything against Satan. Just last month three Christians spent time in jail for speaking out against Satan. Voodoo uses a lot of images to represent demons, and a common one is Mary and baby Jesus. When I first saw the images I thought they were Roman Catholic, but the Haitians with us told us that voodoo uses the same images and they represent the spirit Erzeli, a very powerful demon who makes men impotent. To appease the spirit a man decorates a room all in white in spends the night there. The spirit comes in various forms, but the two most common are as a serpent or as a virgin dressed in white, which the pagan Haitians believe is the Virgin Mary. The spirit sexually satisfies the man, who then regains potency so his wife can conceive. Although many Westerners do not believe in spirits and chalk all this up to the superstition of ignorant people, the Bible testifies to the reality and the power of evil spirits.

Other subjects that Michael and I taught were administrations and "the Great Secret," financial giving, who is Jesus Christ, and the Giver and the gift. When it rained, we all gathered very tightly around the front of the church to get away from the blowing water and to be able to hear. The rain on the steel roof caused us to have to shout, and occasionally when the rain really pounded, we had to take a break and wait it out.

Cayes is so far from Port-au-Prince that we asked Lesly why he picked that city. He explained to us that Haiti has been without a Prime Minister for over a year now and the country is becoming more dangerous. Lesly told us that in many places it was dangerous for even a Haitian to be out after dark, and very dangerous indeed for an American, especially in the capital city. Michael and I had that independently confirmed while we were at lunch one day and met the dean of the local agricultural college. He said when he traveled to Port-au-Prince he locked himself in his hotel at 7:00 p.m.

The seminar ended Thursday at 6:00 p.m. It had rained very hard all afternoon. The rain throughout the week had kept the temperature in the low 90’s, but by now the ground was saturated and the water was rising and starting to flow onto the streets. About 200 yards from the church in the direction away from town there was a low spot in the road that was now over waist deep with water and all the traffic was stopped. Dozens of people were just standing around, unable to get home from town. Weston wanted to get Michael and me back to the hotel in town so that we could eat and prepare for the trip back to Port-au-Prince the next day. Lesly had already gone back to Port-au-Prince in the Jeep, so Weston took Michael and me in the pickup. Michael rode up front and I rode in the back with four Haitians. I was confused by their coming along with us because Weston was just going to drop Michael and me off at the hotel and come back, but I figured that maybe they wanted to say a final goodbye.

About 100 yards from the church in the direction of town the road was covered with water. It soon became apparent that it was getting deeper and running faster. Although the light was almost gone, I could tell we were in quite swift water that was at least axle deep. The houses on the sides of the roads were inundated with water. As Weston slowed the jeep to a crawl, we were quickly mobbed by people all trying to avoid the water. Twenty or thirty Haitians were trying to climb in and on the truck. They were shouting excitedly in French and Creole, and occasionally cursing in English. As the water got deeper and faster, and the crowd got bigger louder and more animated, I realized that the situation could turn ugly very quickly, and I had a wave of fear deeper than I have had on any of my journeys. I struggled through the fear and prayed fervently in tongues for us and the truck, and also for the Haitians who I knew wanted to get away from the water. At that time I had a powerful revelation from God. He brought to my mind a phrase from 2 Corinthians 1:8. Paul had been traveling in Asia, and he wrote to the Corinthians that "he despaired even of life." I knew that Scripture from an academic standpoint, but now I had a clear realization that as Paul traveled he sometimes got in situations that he felt he might not survive. He used those situations to deepen his faith, and he also wrote: "But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead." As I reflect back on the experience and replay it in my mind, I pray that my faith in God’s protection deepens as Paul’s did.

The Haitian believers in the truck with me were doing a good job of keeping it from being swarmed, but finally Weston had to stop the truck and speak to the people, who were all yelling excitedly. He was amazing. He stood in the water and spoke firmly and calmly. He did not let the shouting or the cursing of the people affect him. He so loves the people. You could see it in the way he treated them. Eventually the mob dispersed, and we slowly drove into town. I later found out that Weston had anticipated the crowd and had brought the four Haitians with us to protect Michael and me.

Our concerns about the water were well founded, and again we felt God’s hand of grace and mercy upon us, because when we got back to Port-au-Prince the next day, a man we were rooming with was listening to the news. I asked him what was going on and he, not knowing we had just come from Cayes, said that in a southern town called Cayes the water had just come up over the roads and swept a car away, drowning a man and the policeman who was trying to help.

Friday morning Weston picked Michael and me up at 5:40 a.m. and we headed for Port-au-Prince. Just over an hour into the trip we broke an alternator belt. We seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, and I had to fight worry about us getting back, especially before dark. We limped the car along until we came to some shacks that were along the side of the road in a small village. In what seemed like a miracle, one of the shops had the exact belt we needed and a man with the tools to put it on. In just under an hour we were on our way again, and arrived in Port-au-Prince in the early afternoon. We relaxed and waited for Lesly who said he would come and see us Friday night. When he did not show, we made arrangements to get to the airport in the morning. One of the hardest things about Haiti is never knowing what is happening. The Haitians are used to it and are very relaxed. But, like with John Lynn last year, Michael and I had to work hard to capture our thoughts continually and be anxious for nothing.

On Saturday morning I got up at 5:30 a.m. to my last cold shower, dressed and packed. I also woke up with diarrhea, which the missionaries call "Haitian Happiness," and I prayed for healing. At 6:45 a.m. Michael and I sat down and prayed to see Lesly one more time before we left at 8:00 a.m. Before we were through praying we heard Lesly’s voice saying, "Good morning." We were very blessed to see him, and knew God had answered our prayers. Lesly had taken a cab to come see us, and he said Weston would come with the truck at 7:30 a.m. We had a great breakfast together before we left Haiti. Lesly told us the ministers were very happy with what we had taught. We spoke about a lot of subjects.

  Lesly coordinates a lot of churches and runs his own church and an orphanage for girls. He said he tried feeding programs, which do fill up churches, but found that it was ineffective in discipling people. The church we were in at Cayes used to be run by an American missionary who had lots of programs, including feeding programs. The attendance was more than 300 people each Sunday. Now the missionary is gone and the attendance is very small. Lesly prayed about what to do and the Lord directed him to start an orphanage. He has about 20 girls, ages 8-14. He and his wife are really diligent to make sure the children are healthy and have a good education. He said he needs dolls and doll stuff for them so they have something to play with (girls don’t get involved in sports in Haiti). He also said that he needs good soap, toothpaste and other items for personal hygiene. He also said that they would be blessed to have an American pen pal. If the Lord puts it on your heart to help with the work in Haiti in any way, please let us know. We can put you in touch with Lesly or Weston.

Being in a country like Haiti is a life-changing experience. It is often said that you do not know what you have until it is gone. I have the greatest respect for these Christian ministers. Many of them eat only twice a day in good times, and once or maybe not at all if times are lean. When they leave their families to minister, they travel in unsafe vehicles and are simply out of touch until they come home. Weston lives in the town of Cohobas on the central plateau. No mail is delivered there. His post office box is in Port-au-Prince, and once a week he gets on a big supply truck at 1:00 a.m. (people ride on top of whatever the load is—coffee, wood, whatever) and rides four hours through the night to get his mail. I asked him if there was any other way to get his mail and he said mail just was not delivered around him.

These Christian ministers fight ignorance, superstition and fear to bring the Good News about Christ to people who cannot even afford a good Bible. They know firsthand that the truth sets people free, and that is why I believe they were so excited about what we taught. I believe that most of the credit for the success of our seminar goes to the Lord, who always prepares the heart, and to Lesly, Weston and other ministers there who have heard the truth and continually teach it in spite of hardship, danger and persecution that we in the USA just do not have. I am not going to give up my phone or my hot showers just because another country does not have them, but I can learn from the commitment of men and women who continually minister the Word in harsh conditions. I can pray harder, study harder, give more and witness more fervently. History reveals that difficult circumstances breed commitment among those Christians who decide to stand for the truth. Michael and I took cold showers because we knew we needed to stay clean to stay healthy. We rode those dangerous roads because that was the way to reach the people. The challenge we face in America is to get and stay focused when the world offers so many distractions.

It was a joy for me to be with Michael Branch. He is loving and compassionate, lighthearted yet serious about the Word. He teaches with passion and really desires the people to "get" what he is saying. Both Michael and I want to sincerely thank all who supported us by financial gifts to CES . Your giving makes possible what we do. We also want to thank all who supported us by prayer. I am becoming more serious about prayer, and the Lord is showing me in powerful ways that fervent prayers are essential for spiritual success. Earlier in this letter I quoted from 2 Corinthians 1:8,9 about Paul’s despairing of life. The epistle goes on to say that God "will continue to deliver us as you help with your prayers." I look back on the "close calls" we had, and I cannot help but think that we might not have had success if it were not for the prayer cover you provided. Thank you. Because of this experience, Michael and I are more firmly in His grip.

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